Sinful Heart
by MatrixKnight
Summary: Younger Hinata is under critical condition and may die due to heart failure. Neji, however, cannot and will not accept this. He'll do anything to keep her alive, even give her the greatest and most sorrowful gift anyone can give. A one shot angst fluff fic with several character guest appearances and a desperate out of character Neji. -Rated T for explicit surgery descriptions.


Many shinobi sat outside of the ER, all of them nervous and frightened about the results. Kiba was pacing around the door, on the verge of tears.

"Kiba-kun, please just sit down." Sakura begged him.

"And why the heck should I?" He growled under his breath.

"Sakura-san is right, Kiba." Shino got up and placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Just be patient-"

"Don't screw with me!" He violently shook Shino's hand off of him. "How can you be so calm!? Hinata... She might-" He looked away, trying to hide the tears that dripped on the floor. Shino embraced him comfortingly. "I don't know what I'll do if she dies, Shino..."

"We're all just as worried as you are."

Rock Lee shook his head. "I never really payed attention to Hinata-chan, but now that I think about it... None of us could tell she was even going through anything. I guess I'm just now realizing how strong she was."

"What's the matter with you!?" Ino scolded Rock Lee. "Stop talking like she's gonna' die! Hinata's _still_ strong and she'll make it through this!"

"I know, but you heard what the doctor said. She might not even make it through this operation." Rock Lee said with a slight sorrowful tone.

"Right Sakura!?" Ino turned to her.

"I..." Sakura could no longer hold back the tears. "I don't know anymore...!" She started crying into her palms. Leaving everyone silent once again in the hallway.

"She'll make it."

Everyone in the room turned to Naruto, who was facing a wall in his own shadow. A hole lay in front of him in the concrete. He clenched his bleeding fist. "She will. Because _we're_ all here with her. And her family is in that operation with her, holding her hand. Don't forget, we're ninja. If we can't help her, who can?"

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head with a smirk. "You always have hope, don't you Naruto?"

Tenten laughed. "If he didn't, we would all be sulking here." But then she looked at the entrance doors of the ER. "But... I can only imagine how _Neji_ feels about this. It's mostly his fault all of this happened."

After Tenten finished her statement, every turned to the doors as well, all in concern. Sakura was about to break down again when Rock Lee grabbed her hand reassuringly. He nodded at her with a smile then turned to Tenten, taking her hand as well. Same as Sakura in Shino's, Shino's arm around Kiba, Kiba's hand in Shikamaru's Shikamaru's in Chouji's, Chouji's in Ino's, Ino's in Naruto's, and Naruto's in Tenten's. They all stood there in a circle; all silently praying for Hinata's safety and her life. All the girl's were obviously crying, but the guys tried their hardest not to shed any tears. Kiba being an exception since him and Hinata were like brother and sister.

Neji was holding Hinata's hand in the ER during her operation. He lost count of how many hours he was there, how many hours he cried, and lost track of what time it was while he was at it. He was ready to just give up everything. His talent, his power, and most importantly his life altogether. Everything happening to Hinata was because of his anger towards the main branch family which he took out on someone who did absolutely nothing wrong. He realized that now and tried his best in his own way to rebuild their relationship, but he knew nothing he could possibly do would ever make up for his selfish and criminal actions. He couldn't even tell she was having heart issues afterwards. He thought she was completely healed but it looked like he was wrong...

"Neji..." Hiashi placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "I must get back to my duties... And I'm taking Hanabi with me... You can leave too if you want."

Neji didn't respond.

Hiashi was going through a huge amount of pain himself, but he couldn't pass up his duties. "Alright, I trust you'll watch over her for me. If anything changes, send word to me immediately."

Neji stayed unresponsive as he clung to Hinata's hand, completely lifeless.

Hiashi sighed. "Let's go Hanabi." He grabbed her hand and dragged her out as she wailed and cried obnoxiously.

Neji was just about to sink into complete mindlessness until the sounds of distressed doctors cried out in the background.

"We're losing her!" "Call in the chief commander!" "What do we do Lady Tsunade?!" "She won't last five minutes!"

Medical shinobi ran around the room searching for answers while others started to perform an emergency jutsu to restore her back to life.

"No! NO!" Neji grasped onto Hinata's hand tightly, crying out to her as she began to become paler and more limp by the second. "HINATA-SAMA! No God please don't take her!" His voice began to grow hoarse and hot tears burned down his cheeks. His world was crashing on top of him, crushing his heart and mind the the point it wasn't recognizable.

"Everyone calm down!" Tsunade's voice boomed over everyone else's. "Shizune, go get the instructions to the heart transfusion jutsu!" After Shizune ran off, Lady Tsunade ran over to the doctors taking care of Hinata. "What's going on here!?"

"Tsunade-sama," A doctor starts up completely dripping in worry. "Her heart damage has gone for too long without treatment and is almost incurable-"

Tsunade slapped him, leaving a nail mark. "Nothing's incurable you quack! I taught you better!"

"But Tsu-"

"Where's Shizune!?"

"Right here, Ma'am!" Shizune burst through the doors with the instructions .

"Bout' time!" Tsunade took the instructions from Shizune and opened them, almost ripping it from the tension in the room. "Alright! Place her on the floor. Someone go get me a heart from our donated organs! Let's hope this works."

The medics picked up Hinata's limp body and moved the surgery bed out of the way, leaving the floor completely open. They lay her in the center, Neji still clinging to her hand hopefully.

Tsunade ran over with a small case that had a heart inside it, then furrowed her eyebrows at Neji. "Neji! You need to move in order to perform this surgery!"

Neji hung his head low. "... I won't move."

Tsunade stood back in shock from his disobedience and grabbed his arm. "Neji! I need to perform this or she _won't_ live do you understand me!?"

He glared up at her with all of the darkness and desperation someone would bare for a loved one. "I promised I would never leave her side."

"You idiot! You might fuse with her if you stay there! Restrain him!"

Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai, who were all supervising the kids who came for Hinata's operation all jumped on Neji, forcing him back to the wall. He struggled, trying to break through with every sneak tactic he could think of, when Kakashi finally pressure pointed him and brought him to his knees.

Tsunade ripped Hinata's hospital gown open, pricking her thumb and writing the correct kanji with it on her Hinata's chest with her blood. Once she finished, she stepped back and stood in a circle with back up medics who were needed to perform this jutsu. Using the right hand motions, simultaneously they all shouted out "Shinzoui shokushu no jutsu!" The heart next to Hinata started to glow along with the writing on her chest, convincing everyone that it was working when the light wore off, showing nothing had changed.

Tsunade became distraught as she tried the same jutsu numerous times again. Still the same result. With that she turned to Shizune. "What's going on!?"

Shizune stared at the directions wide eyed before looking up at Tsunade. "In order for it to work... You need a living sacrifice who would be willing to trade hearts with her. You can't use a heart from someone who's already dead!"

"What!?" Tsunade ripped the directions out of Shizune's hand before cursing to herself.

"What do we do, Ma'am?" Shizune asked. Tsunade didn't respond. She was trying to think things through, but she knew she didn't have for thinking at this critical moment. The only thing she could think of was trading hers with Hinata. As a guardian and as the fifth Hokage. She knew she was strong enough to handle Hinata's weak heart, so she came to a decision.

"I'll trade with h-"

"I'll do it!"

everyone turned to Neji, who was holding his chest in pain from Kakashi's blow. He looked up at Tsunade desperately. "I volunteer... I'll... Give up my heart to Hinata."

Tsunade shook her head. "There's no way I could let you do that!"

"Why? Because you would get looked down on?"

"Neji..." Tsunade looked to her feet. "Her heart is very weak. What if your body isn't capable of handling it?"

"I can handle it... Besides even if I die, the greatest joy I could have is saving Hinata's life."

"And you only have one choice. Once you decide this you can never go back."

"I've already made up my mind. Please let me do it! I'll suffer the burden and the pain that I gave her. It only makes sense that I should! The consequences are _mine_, and I can deal with them."

Tsunade turned to Shizune, then to the teachers. "Let him go, we'll use him."

"But Lady Tsunade! Do you understand what you're-" Tsunade put a hand in front of Shizune and nodded at Neji.

"In order for this to work, you must lay down next to her on her left side. Someone move the heart out of the way!"

Reluctantly, Kakashi let Neji go. Gai was about to shed tears and Kurenai turned around. She couldn't bare to look.

As soon as Neji was released, he bolted to Hinata's side. "... I won't let you die. You'll be healthy again. I promise."

Tsunade motioned for Neji to lay down. He nodded, laying flat right next to Hinata. Looking to his side and staring at her, he grasped her cold hand tightly with a barely visible smirk on his face. He turned to tsunade when she opened his shirt and pricked her finger.

"Sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. I know how to do it this time." Before she started writing on his chest, she looked at him again. "You have one more chance to go back."

Neji narrowed his arms at her. "Do it."

Tsunade gave him a pained looked and nodded before writing the Kanji on his chest. "The pain might be unbearable, but I believe you can push through." She stood up, getting in the circle with the medics once again, shouting, "Shinzoui shokushu no jutsu!"

The kanji burned into their chests, ripping a hole where their hearts are and pulling them out. Neji screamed in pain before lying dead for a second until they had traded hearts. Once it was complete, the light died down, and the two layed there completely limp.

The medics stood there on edge and turned to Tsunade. "Are they okay?"

"Repair the damage on their chests and put Neji in the hospital with extreme care. We'll build him back up in time."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Tsunade walked out of the operation room to greet the other kids. They all looked up, Naruto dashing to Tsunade. "How's Hinata!? What was that screaming we heard before!?"

"Is she okay?" Sakura asked distressed.

Tsunade gave them a fake smile. "She'll be just fine."

The crowd broke out in tears of joy, all of them hugging each other and celebrating. Ino was having a hard time breathing from the almost heart attack she just experienced, and Kiba fell to his knees, completely relieved Hinata was going to be okay. Naruto hugged Tsunade with all of his might. It made her feel guilty, since she couldn't tell them that Neji might have died giving his life up for her...

"So can we go see her!?" Rock Lee said ecstatic.

"Not yet. We're closing her up, and then sending them- I mean her back to the Hospital rooms to rest up. You can visit her tomorrow if she's awake." Tsunade reassured them. "For now, you can all go home. It's almost 5 in the morning. You've been here since 7 in the afternoon and I'm pretty sure you're all exhausted."

They all looked at each other, with their ridiculous bags under their eyes and all decided to leave. All of them conversing about how happy they were Hinata was going to be okay.

"You rest up too, Granny Tsunade." Naruto said before walking off with his friends, leaving Tsunade to stand there and feel extreme regret for what she let happen. She knew she would never forgive herself for making the decision to let Neji do what he wanted, and that it could kill him. She silently cried to herself, wishing she would have traded hearts with Hinata instead. A medic opened the doors and put a hand on Tsunade's shoulder. She retracted the tears and turned to him.

"What is it?"

The shinobi stared at her, pale in the face like he just saw a ghost.

"Well!? Spit it out!" She felt as if she knew what he was going to say. Mentally preparing herself, she lowered her head.

"He's alive."

Her eyes snapped opened. "W-what?" Bursting through the doors and looked at Neji, whose chest was rising and falling normally. She couldn't believe what she was looking at.

"His vitals are normal and so is his breathing. His heart is very weak but we can combat it with regular Hospital treatment. He should be back on his feet in about half a year."

Tsunade shook her head, wiping her tears. "Take them both to a Hospital room."

"Yes Ma'am."

Shizune patted Tsunade's shoulder. Tsunade smiled and turned to the others. All who were crying dramatically except Kurenai. "Everything's going back to normal real soon. Gai, Kurenai, take good care of those two."

Gai wailed in happiness. "I always knew you were strong Neji!"

"He's a good kid!" Kakashi takes out a hanky and wipes the only eye showing.

Kurenai laughs to herself as she watches them.

"Now..." Tsunade starts. "How bout' we all go celebrate with drinking!"

The three stood there staring at her. "No, I'm actually kind of tired..." Kakashi stated.

"Don't be like that let's go!" She dragged all four of them out with her and they partied and celebrated all morning.

Hinata stood with a bouquet to her chest outside of Neji's Hospital room. She got out earlier than he did, and she was busy with training everything. So that day she decided to visit him and show him how grateful she was for his actions as much as she could. After standing outside for a few seconds nervously, she decided to slide the door open and slowly walk in. "H-hello...?"

A bedridden Neji turned to Hinata and smiled warmly at her as if to say '_I knew it wouldn't drag me down_'. "Hinata-sama, I'm surprised you're here. Don't you have training again today?"

"I..." She sat down at his bedside. "I skipped today. To come and see you."

Neji eyed the white irises in her hands. "Are those for me?"

Hinata nodded nervously. "I- I didn't know what kind of flowers you liked, or if you liked any at all..." She put handed them to him. "So I picked these out."

"You didn't have to go through picking them out for me. I would've been content with you just stopping by."

Hinata hid her face under her bangs; upset.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I wanted to thank you for... For everything-" She played with her fingers. "For taking care of me and, for what you did... And-" A tear dripped on his bed spread. She jumped and wiped them away. "-I'm sorry I shouldn't be crying like this. I was going to say that- I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't helped me... And I want to thank you. I don't know how to repay you." Her voice became more wobbly as she tried to hold it back, but couldn't any longer. She put her eyes in her hands. "Why won't you stop...?"

All neji could do was stare at Hinata. He was bad at this sort of thing when it came to comforting words, or saying anything at all in situations like this. So he decided not to say anything at all. Putting a hand under her chin, he lifted up her head and softly pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back, looking her directly in the eyes. "I love you, Hinata-sama."

"N-Neji nii-sama..."

He poked her in the chest and smiled at her. "Take good care of it for me."

Hinata embraced Neji and cried on his shoulder, soaking his white hakama. "I will. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Neji pulled her as close to him as he could and held her as tightly as possible without hurting her. He kissed her on the head and then on her neck comfortingly, joy swelling up inside his heart that he was able to live and hold onto her for the rest of his life.

"I love you Neji nii-sama."

"I love you too Hinata-sama. I promise I won't ever leave you again."

With that they shared one last kiss that tied a bond between them that could never be broken. A whole new promise that began with their own flesh and blood living inside each other. What they shared could never be broken, after all, it was proof that they were alive. And nobody could ever pull that apart. They had many more sad times for each other in the future, but for now, they lived happily ever after.

**I'm not good at writing angsty stories cause 1: I'm only 15 and 2: I have barely any writing experiance and my voacubalry isn't widened enough for me to get all depressing D: But I hope you enoy my attempt anyways xD. Gosh being sick can actually pay off o _ o.**


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